Towns in Decline Ad 1001600 Many European towns have experienced loss of population, degradation of physical structure and profound economic change at least once since the height of the Roman Empire. This text examines the various causes of these changes, their results and the reasons why some centres survived and flourished while others failed and died. The contributors b... more »ring to bear the techniques of history and archaeology, the perspectives of economics, agronomy, medicine, architecture and planning, georgraphy and law to the study. The result is a synthesis which connects the decline of the Roman Empire to the effects of the Black Death and the economic transformation of Renaissance Florence.« less